Audiophiles i need advice on what to get.

STILL check REL. They have a pretty comprehensive range.

Or Sunfire (provided your mains go low enough).
 
Interesting web page. Unfortunately a lot of great subs are missing from it.

For example:
Velodyne HGS-18/15/12/10
Paradigm Reference Servo-15
Martin Logan Descent, Depth
Hsu Research
SV Subwoofers
 
SVS gets a lot of praise, but I have never heard them. I think they are only sold factory direct. Does anyone have personal experience with them?

I saw that earlier someone mentioned headphones as an alternative. They certainly are, however you give up the ability to entertain others with your system. You will isolate yourself a lot. They do sound good though. I recommend Sennheiser and Grado Labs. I own a pair of Grado SR-60's. They sound very good (comparable in quality of sound to the Mirage M990 we have, but not as good as our Vandersteen Model 2) and took a beating in my dorm room. They still sound good. I wish I had purchased some SR-80's though. The 60's are ~$70, and the 80's ~$100. They have increasing quality of models up to the RS-1 which is near $700. I would recommend the Grado's in the lower range, but don't have any experience past headphones in excess of $150. I personally woundn't recommend getting headphones unless you already have a good stereo or if you need to listen without disturbing others.

So, to respond to megatronrules, get a decent integrated amp, and whatever speakers you prefer the most(audition as many as you can). I didn't mention this earlier, but don't skimp on the cables. Don't go overboard either, but expect to spend 10% the cost of the system on cables. This should give you a set-up of maximized value. The only reason to get a seperate pre-amp/amp over an integrated one is greater versatility. If you don't expect to do much upgrading the integrated amp will be fine.
 
jmxcpter,
So Spica has been out of business for 10 years? How do they compare to newer stuff. Many years ago, I bought a set for my parents and a friend, got stands thrown in for buying 2 pairs, or something like that. Great imaging, the ones we had were a half pyramid shape. Figured, anyone could add a subwoofer later for more volume, never done though. (Bought them because of a review in the Absolute Sound and then probably went and listened).

No recomendations re brands, no current knowledge, but I do have a couple of comments.

I agree with jmxcpter, read an issue or two of Absolute Sound. Since he mentions it, it must still be a good read. Relatively expensive mag. It will be way over many peoples head and budget, but some good buys occasionally mentioned and more reliable results. Some mags lowest rating is a "good," whereas Absolute Sound tells it like they see it. Perhaps not "the" truth, but at least "a" truth. Fiesty editor. Still remember an editorial response to a letter. "Piss on you." or something quite like that. Now how many magazines would be this candid? You also start to get an idea of what they are looking for, e.g. imaging. I recall an interesting series the magazine had on the varying acoustics of several concert halls.

If you have any friends who are really into audio equipment, tag along. If they are serious buyers, you will get more attention, not waste anyone's time, and besides, maybe they want to sell the "old" piece of equipment, to get something better.

Separates allow you to move up a piece at a time, but I never got the bucks to go this route to begin with.

jmxcpter, or some here should be able to recommend a CD or two that is good for test purposes, take it with you. I think one of the ones I used was a Steely Dan album, a record then. I listened to it through JBL speakers. Nice enough sound, very generally speaking, but I could not distinguish the words. Then same CD through B & W speakers. Could hear every word! So it wasn't my "bad" ears. The problem was, the B & W's I could afford had a rather limited sound (to keep this short & b/c of passed years) versus their more expensive models. I ended up compromising when my sister found me a pair of Celestion speakers. In other words they had some of the party/volume sound of the JBL's, or more expensive B & W's, and some of the clarity of the B & W. By the way, I imagine it is still true that most "mass market" speakers do not have much real bass, they just jack up the upper bass, which makes it seem like they do.

The point is, find a source(s) (CD) you are familiar with for at least part of your listening, you might detect more differences than you might think. Also try to have at least one source of the type that you listen to frequently, so even if you do not get the world's best speakers (or associated equipment), you know that you will be able to stand to listen to what you get.
 
The Pyramid shaped Spicas you refer to were probably the TC50s. Even today, their strengths show through. They image well and are well balanced tonally. Unfortunately, they were also rather delicate and wouldn't take much abuse. They were rather light in the bass, which made people crank them up more, which caused their delicate nature to show through. A sub would help them fill in the bottom, but they still wouldn't play very loud without fatigue or failure.

HP (Harry Pearson)was the editor you refer to in Abs Sound. I believe he's retired, or at least semi retired. HP rarely pulled a punch. Abs Sound is still a great magazine, even if not quite as controversial as it once was.

jmx
 
We bought the Bose 3-2-1 Lifestyle System. $1000.00 and it works great for us. Not the loudest system in the world, but easy to use and compact.
Works well hooked up to hour VCR/tv/DVD set up.
Our media room is quite small(12x10) compared to many others, so if using a bigger room, you may need more OOMPH!

Bigger room may need a bigger system, but for us it's really meeting our needs.

Good luck with your purchase !
 
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